


Memory,Data,Video.

by Kingbob2



Category: Assassin's Creed, Infamous:Second Son
Genre: A fanfic of a fanfic, Authors first fic ever, Canon Typical Violence, Clay kinda lives!, Desmond lives!, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Torture, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, More tags to be added, References to Mind Control, References to Torture, WAY to many commas, constructive criticism appreciated
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:16:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27727363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kingbob2/pseuds/Kingbob2
Summary: When Desmond woke up this morning, he had high hopes for the day. he didn't expect some of his worst secrets to be revealed to Delsin in the worst possible way, but he supposed that was just his life.When clay woke up in the Gray he didn't know what to expect, other than an eternity of boredom.Oh well, at least he could help his new hacker friend dig up Abstergo's worst secrets.So there's that.
Relationships: Desmond Miles/Delsin Rowe
Comments: 31
Kudos: 60





	1. Desmond

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic was inspired by SeventhStrife's exellent DesDel fanfic, Step By Step, which I would definitely recommend reading before this fic so u better understand where I'm coming from.  
> It's basically an au of that fic.  
> I don't have a computer, so I wrote this whole thing on my iPad and phone and I can't italicize which is more annoying than I thought it would be,but it's my first fic EVER written, so please while constructive criticism is appreciated be nice to me in the comments.

Weak, gentle sunlight filtered through the clouds as Desmond ran. The rain, previously pouring down on Seattle when he had left on a grocery run an hour or so ago, had lightened up to a weak drizzle as he parkoured through downtown, grocery bags in hand.

Breathing hard but smiling widely, Desmond leapt easily from rooftop to rooftop, enjoying the wind in his hair and the emptyness in his head. His eyes and thoughts focused only on the next roof he could jump to.

Feet clearing the gap between the two rooftops, he skidded to a halt in a puddle. Panting and trying to catch his breath, He tilted his head upwards to blink up at the hazy sunlight.

Finally catching his breath, Desmond switched the grocery bags to one hand. Walking to the edge of the gas station roof, he peered down at the black asphalt, he tried to decide whether he could make the jump, or if it would earn him a broken bone.

Shaking his head and deciding that, no he did not want a broken neck today, thank you very much, Desmond scanned the roof edge and located a storm drain that looked strong enough to hold his weight.

Sliding down the drain until his feet met asphalt, Desmond shifted the grocery bags and stretched. Striding past a dumpster, he resolved to walk the rest of the way home.

He was about to round the corner when his world suddenly flashed grey. Stumbling back in surprise as 3 red figures near the entrance of the gas station were revealed by eagle vision, Desmond dropped into crouch,setting the bags down as noiselessly as possible.

Inching closer to eavesdrop, Desmond risked a peek around the corner. 3 guys, not seeming particularly well armed. Were they drug dealers or Templar recruits?

"-Freaks." One of them was saying,shifting his feet. "I can't believe HQ wants us to recruit this guy."

Definitely Templars then.

I know griped another as Desmond risked another peek around the corner. "But he's our best bet to get to the rest of those freaks,and you know these conduits are the 2nd best thing to a P.O.E." Desmond ducked back, alarmed, as the templars turned and started to walk slowly his way.

Delsin 

Desmond's eyes widened, horrified, as he realized who they were talking about.

I can't let that happen.

Judging by the sound of footsteps growing louder as they got closer, it was far to late to run anyways. So, pulling out the knife he took with him,(a habit leftover from New York) Desmond pulled up his hood and rose into a fighting stance, preparing to jump the Templars as soon as they turned the corner.

3...  
The footsteps were growing louder...

2...  
He tightened his grip on the knife...

1!!!  
Desmond sprang forward, Slamming the knife handle into the head of the first Templar before any of them could do more than cry out in shock.

Not bothering to stop and see if the man fell, he charged towards the other two before they could react, slamming ones head brutally back into a wall and dodging the wild haymaker of the third. Knocking him out with a few vicious hits but unfortunately taking a wild kick that sent Desmond down onto the ground, he huffed and shifted to get back up.

Desmond grimaced at the unconscious man. As he slowly moved to stand, he felt his hood fall off carelessly. Than he heard a revolver click to his left.

With mounting horror he slowly turned, heart pounding,to find one Templar had gotten up again. The Templar's gun pointed directly at him.

"You..." The Templar's eyes widened in recognition at the sight of his face and Desmond barely heard his next words over the blood roaring in his ears.

Oh,No.

"I know who you are!"  
Snareled the slightly deranged looking Templar, firearm wavering unsteadily, still pointed at Desmond. Somehow still managing to keep it pointed straight in spite of the man's obvious head injury."Your-"

Please No-

"An assassin." Desmond muttered, half crouched on the asphalt and desperately hoping the man did not know who he was. An assassin sighting was bad, but it was still infinitely better than a DESMOND MILES sighting.

Stop-

"One of Abstergo's escaped lab rats!" He spat, continuing on as if Desmond hadn't spoken.

Don't-

-not seeming to notice Desmond tighten his grip on the knife in his hands, too preoccupied with whatever rant he was working up-

"Subject Seventeen-"  
Desmond felt something in him snap at that.

The Templar's words where abruptly cut of with a gasp as Desmond surged forward suddenly, knife slamming into the man's stomach.

Desmond waited, panic ebbing slightly, until the Templar's bday slumped foreward and the light in his eyes dimmed. Trembling slightly, he pulled his knife out and stepped back, letting the body fall gracelessly to the floor.

Chest heaving, he stared at the pool of growing blood by his feet. Finally scraping his thoughts into a semblance of order with one deep, shaky exhale.He knelt down quickly removing the late man's valuables before moving onto the next.

Swiftly disposing of the groups phones and wallets, he turned and wandered back to his dropped grocery bags. Before he could move to pick them up however, he heard the sound of someone walking up from behind him.

Panic returned as the world flashed back to grey. His heart slamming into his ribs until he thought they would break, Desmond whirled around to face whatever new threat was approaching. Only To grind to a halt as he took in, not the malicious red intent of an enemy as he expected. But the calming, gentle blue of an ally. His panic did not diminish at this, however.

Please no-

Desmond stared across From him, painfully aware of his hood being off, meeting Delsin's shocked stare with eyes he KNEW were burning gold. The knife, slippery with blood, slipped from his fingers to clatter on the asphalt.

Delsin had probably seen and heard EVERYTHING.

"Fuck."


	2. Delsin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey Delsin, what material is your vest made of?"
> 
> Delsin: "Boyfriend material."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooo! Cha 2 time my dudes!  
> I hope I did Delsin's character justice.

Delsin stared, wide eyed, at Desmond. His head felt to full of questions to even BEGIN to ask about. Behind him, the body of a man lay in a puddle of his own slowly cooling blood. The murder weapon lying by Desmond's shoes.

But that wasn't even the worse part of what Delsin had suddenly become a witness too.

"What the FUCK!?!" He blurted out. "I-i don't-"Desmond started,looking frantically at anything but him.  
Ignoring Desmond's panicked stuttering,He took a step forwards.Stopping when Desmond stumbled back,refusing to look him in the eyes. "What did that guy mean, lab rat!?!"

"I don't-I CAN'T-" finally realizing how close Desmond was to bolting, Delsin put his hands up where Desmond could see them."Desmond calm down." He said, taking another step closer. Desmond flinched back as if he'd been struck, backing up against the side of the dumpster.

Desmond was hyperventilating, breathing in short panicked bursts. Staring at the floor, his ungloved hand gripping onto his arm so hard Delsin was actually worried that it would snap.

"Shit!" He cursed as Desmond's legs gave out underneath him. Dashing forwards in a cloud of smoke and cinder, he caught him as he fell and clutched him close to his chest. Holding him close, Delsin rocked them both from side to side. Trying to keep his voice as soothing as possible as Desmond whimpered into his chest, holding on with a death grip to his vest. "Del-Desmond broke off.

heart nearly breaking at how small his voice was, Delsin gave him a fierce but gentle squeeze.gently moving one hand to frame Desmond's jaw gentle as he bumped his chin upward, with a murmur of "Hey,look at me." Encouraging Desmond to look him in the eyes."there you go." He murmured encouragingly as Desmond stopped fighting to keep his  
head down. "Let me see Yo-" his voice trailed off as he finally caught a glimpse of Desmond's eyes.

Desmond's normally friendly, happy brown eyes were now GLOWING a bright, unnatural gold.  
His pupils gleamed, a metallic shine usually only seen in an animal when the light caught theirs at just the right angle. Even worse was the look in them, an almost feral madness. They almost seemed to look THROUGH him.

Shaking his unease off as Desmond shuddered in his grip, Delsin looked over the rest of his face. Noticing the tear track and-choosing to ignore the way they reflected that unnatural  
light- he rubbed his thumbs slowly over his cheeks, wiping away more tears.

Now more worried and confused than ever, he leaned forward to press a soft kiss on Desmond's head. Drawing back at another whimper, Delsin watched as Desmond screwed his eyes tightly shut.

Taking the opportunity to press two quick, soft pecks to his eyelids, Delsin drew him back close to his chest. Holding him tighter when he felt Desmond shake like a leaf in his grasp.

"Del." He heard him choke out, his heart twisting painfully in his chest at the pain in his tone.  
"I-"  
He cut Desmond off with a gentle squeeze, hand rubbing down his back. "Shhhh" He shushed him, rubbing a little harder. "You don't have to explain anything yet. Just breathe."

He felt as much as heard Desmond let out a deep bone weary sigh, pecking Desmond on the forehead as he felt him finally start to relax.

Raising his head from Desmond's hair he glanced around at the bodies lying on the asphalt.  
Scooping him up in his arms, he huffed in amusement at Desmond's startled look.

"C,mon." He said,shoving away all the questions whispering in the back of his head. smiling jokingly he teasingly said. "You look like you could use a nap after all that exercise."

This earned him a startled laugh. "Yeah,No." said Desmond, peering up at him, expression amused but tired."I'd rather not sleep in a dumpster." He finished, and Delsin was glad to see that a little bit off his normal, happy self had come back.

He snorted , amused, and dashed through a nearby vent. Delsin smiled down at Desmond. "Well then," He drawled,"lets go back to my place and get some r and r, huh?.

Grin widening at Desmond's soft laughter despite his worry and the scene he was leaving, he dashed from roof vent to vent towards his apartment and, after Desmond had calmed a bit, hopefully some answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there u have it folks!  
> Cha 2 was originally a lot longer but I broke it into a 2 parter,  
> Cha 3 will also be in Delsin's point of view when I eventually post it.


	3. Delsin (again)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ch 3, up!   
> Enjoy!

When They finally arrived at his apartment, Delsin didn't even bother pulling his keys. Not wanting to let Desmond go for even a SECOND, he opted to just smoke dash through.

Reforming from the smoke and embers, his arms still full of Desmond. Glancing down, he met Desmond's tired eyes-

Tired eyes that had returned to their normal friendly brown,Thank GOD-

He kissed him chastely on the lips, grinning when the kiss was returned. Pulling back to examine Desmond's face once more.

God, he looks EXHAUSTED.

Feeling Desmond snuggle closer to his chest, Delsin walked carefully through the living room,  
Past the kitchen and bathroom, and into his bedroom. "Del, I'm fine." Came Desmond's voice "you don't have to-". Ignoring Desmond's halfhearted protests, he gently settled Desmond onto his bed.

Once he was sure Desmond was comfortable, Delsin slides into bed next to him,shifting so that they were face to face. When Desmond didn't meet his eyes, he reached out and intertwined their fingers.

"You ok, babe?" Delsin asked, concerned by the deep shuddering breath Desmond drew when he finally looked into Delsin's eyes.

"I'm fin-" He cutoff as Delsin shot him his best "Are you really trying to bulshit me right NOW," glare.

Desmond sighed, a deep, bone-weary, EXHAUSTED sound that did not reassure Delsin AT ALL.  
"No." He whispered, looking like that was something he should be ashamed of.

"I'm....tired, Delsin." An understatement if his demeanor was any thing to go by.  
Delsin let his eyes wander from Desmond's face, taking in the way he seemed to melt into the mattress as if he wanted to disappear into it forever.

"Hmm" He hummed in agreement, watching as Desmond struggled to stay awake. Delsin grinned and leaned forward to peck him on the eyelids as they slipped closed. "Get some sleep then." He whispered as Desmond's breathing deepened.

"I'll be here when you wake up" He promised softly.

Moving carefully so as not to wake Desmond, Delsin sat up. Hand still intertwined with Desmond's. Eyes on his sleeping partners face, carefully watching him for nightmares, he allowed the events of the past few hours to catch up to him.

Abstergo's lab rat.

He shuddered, worry and anger warring in his brain, as he remembered the way the crazed man had spat the words out, gun pointed at Desmond's face. He squeezed Desmond's hand tighter, reassuring himself that he was still there.

He grimaced slightly, remembering the way he had frozen in terror, sure he was about to lose someone he loved. Only for fear to turn into surprise when DESMOND, his sweet, kind, happy Desmond, had expertly lunged forward and buried his knife in the man's stomach.

Delsin, as much as he hated it, was no stranger to killing. Many times when the D.U.P. Were still in Seattle he had to choose between one of them, or an innocent.But the way Desmond had acted, had MOVED- 

He acted like he had done it a million times before...

Delsin shook his head, dispelling those thought from his brain, feeling as if he didn't have the full picture. Flashes of Desmond filled his head, all the kind things he had done. No, Delsin realized. He didn't have the full story, and Desmond was far to kind to EVER be anything bad.

Something else was going on.

He sighed, remembering the TERROR in Desmond's eyes when he realized Delsin was there. That Delsin had seen and heard EVERYTHING. "I wish you'd just let me help you." He sighed, reaching over to softly run his fingers through Desmond's hair, smiling widely when he unconsciously leaned into the touch.

Delsin sighed, reluctantly moving his hand back to pull out his phone. Selecting the number, he waited impatiently as the phone rang on the other end, silently praying the other wasn't busy. He grinned, relieved, as the phone was answered and a nervous voice spoke.

"H-hello? Delsin?"

"Hey,Eugene." He said, a glance at Desmond steeling his resolve.

"Do you think you could do a little digging for me? It's important."

It was time to finally get some answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there's Eugene!  
> Clay should be appearing soon,  
> I've only got a rough outline of this fic, so updates will be random  
> I do plan on hopefully finishing it tho


	4. Eugene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ch 4 is here!
> 
> I don't know how to write Eugene so hopefully he's not very ooc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t worry I’m not abandoning this fic but I have no idea when I’ll be posting the next chapter I’ve hit writers block for this
> 
> I may,however, write a few drabbles to try to kickstart my brain.

Eugene blinked, turning from his computer screen, glowing bright in the comfort and quiet of his domain, to stare at his phone in surprised confusion . "You want me to hack into a... pharmaceutical company?!" He asked in disbelief,checking to see if he misheard somewhere.

He heard Delsin sigh on the other end of speaker phone. "Yeah, I know it's a tall order, but if your not too busy-"

"No,no! It's not that! It's just-" He cut off for a moment, struggling to find the words.  
"Why!?" He settled for incredulously.

"I-just-"

Eugene shifted, for once ignoring the game over noise from his computer, full attention on how tired Delsin sounded. "They want something from Desmond."Delsin said.

"Ohhhkaay?" Eugene said slowly, trying to make sense of this new information. "And why does Desmond want to hack them?"

"He doesn't." Said Delsin, as if that explained ANYTHING. "I-shit-"

Eugene could barely make out a faint rustling noise on the other end of the phone before Delsin continued, voice quieter.

"Desmond got jumped by some thugs by the gas station and one of them called him "Abstergo's escaped lab rat" and I-"

"L-LAB RAT!?, JUMPED?! Delsin,slow down! Is Desmond ok?" Eugene interrupted Delsin mid-ramble, gaze fixed on his phone as he worriedly waited for an answer.

Eugene might not know him well, (having only really met the guy once) but Desmond had seemed like a good person, and both he and Fetch knew that Delsin was ( as Fetch would say.)beanie over heels for the guy.

"He had one hell of a panic attack, but he's ok." Eugene puffed out a breath of relief at that. "No injuries, he's sleeping now."

"Ok..ok." Said Eugene, turning to his computer and exiting his game."That's good, did those thugs say anything else?"

"No...Wait- YES!" Delsin exclaimed. "The thug also called him Subject Seventeen!" Delsin said,voice growing quiet again.

"Subject!?, Of what!?" Eugene said, even more concerned and baffled.

"I don't know." Said Delsin, beginning to sound frustrated. 

"I was a bit preoccupied with trying to calm Desmond down to ask." He pointed out snarkily.

Eugene flinched a little, despite knowing Delsin wasn't mad at him. "S-sorry, I-" He started to stutter out an apology before being interrupted. 

"No-no, I'M sorry," Delsin said, exhaling tiredly before continuing, "I'm just as confused as you are, those thugs didn't exactly look like they could give many answers, and I know your really busy, but maybe if you get the time..." He trailed off.

Eugene stared at his screen a moment, thinking hard. After a few tense seconds he smiled, turning back to the phone.

"I think I have a bit of free time."

"Oh, thank god." Delsin exhaled, sounding relieved.There was a short pause before he continued. "I have to go, I think Des is waking up."

Eugene almost laughed. "I'm sure you do," He muttered, amused. "I'll call you if I find anything."

Delsin chuckled. "Thanks buddy, your a life saver. I'll talk to you later."

The phone clicked as he hung up, leaving his dominion silent once again. Eugene turned back to his screens and started to type, hunched over his keyboard.

It was time to get to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a very long chapter, but I had motivation issues so writing, so I'm glad it's up at all.


	5. Clay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now it's clays turn
> 
> Hopefully I didn't write him out of character 
> 
> Reference to suicide and depression in this chapter.

A grey void was all Clay saw when he opened his eyes.

With a sharp gasp he sat bolt upright, chest heaving. He stared forward blankly for a moment, before groaning and holding his head, trying desperately to remember where he was and how he got there.

He remembered his neglectful ass of a dad, running into the assassins, being captured, Williams refusal to break him out, Lucy's betrayal...

Scribbling in his blood on walls far to white for his taste, the desperate hope his message would be found.

Lucy's horrified face as she walked in to find him, grinning at her triumphantly as red ran in streams from excessively slashed wrists.

And then the island, Ezio and Altair...

Desmond.

Clay scrambled to his feet, jerking his head from side to side frantically, searching for his fellow test subject. He saw nothing but white glowing lines of code. He prayed that was a good thing, that Desmond hadn't been.. deleted.

\------------------------------------

Clay walked aimlessly, meandering along between the bits and lines of data that stretched, dizzily and endlessly in every direction. For a moment he wondered how much time had passed in the real world, before scolding himself.

"Wondering about real life will only drive you crazy,"He said aloud "well, crazier." He sighed, looking at his wrists, Undamaged and unstained.

Seconds or years, nothing mattered in this place.

\-------------------------------------

Clay stared blankly into space as he sat lost in thought, watching but not seeing the lines of data stream endlessly past him, unnoticed.

Unnoticed, that is, until he realized a previous white line was now glowing BLUE.

With a start, he jerked his head back. Now staring, eyes wide and jaw slack, at the glitching blue line. Snapping out of his stupor, Clay raced forward, skidding to a halt next to the line, glitching and flashing with blue squares.

"What the actual FUCK." He muttered, eyes never leaving the code trying to figure out what - if anything, he should do.

Thinking for a moment,he realized he really only had two options here:  
Option one- ignore it and continue to languish in utter boredom for the rest of his not-life, or...

He could fuck around and find out.

He grinned, near manically, hand reaching out to grab the data and.... download it, so to speak.

A rush of information slammed into him like a freight train the second he grasped the spasmodicly glitching line. He stumbled back,nearly falling as he broke his hold.

Despite the not real headache forming behind his eyes, Clay grinned even wider than before, feeling more alive than he had since he died.

Someone was hacking into Abstergo.

Clay honestly didn't know why, or who, and honestly he hardly cared. "if this guy-or girl," Clay spoke aloud, voice both echoing and muffled in his personal hell. "-wants to get a little bit of dirt on those bastards, who am I to stand in their way." He said dramatically, turning and activating eagle vision.

Spotting a glowing golden line nearby, he ran towards it, hand outstretched to the code.

"Drug trails" he murmured as he "read" the line, "done on poor, purposefully mislead people,  
Many of whom did not survive the first stages." He grinned viciously. "Perfect."

He turned back to the blue code, dragging the white one behind him. "Assassins are supposed to uphold free will and the spread of information after all." He mused aloud, reaching the blue code.

It took very little effort to link the two lines together.

Clay paused, watching with glee as the white line started to turn blue. Turning and activating E.V. once more, he grinned as several lines lit up in gold. 

"Hope your hungry for info, hacker." He Crowed gleefully to the line.

"Because It's a fuckin' buffet in here!"

\-----------------------------------

"Buried lawsuits, human trafficking and drug deals!" Clay called out cheerily, linking another line zealously to the ever growing blue. Impatiently he watched the hacker chew through them all, before turning to scan for more gold.

He only spied two more lines, close to the blue, glowing far brighter than the rest.

Grinning, he strode forward to read them, hands brushing through them. Prepared to grab and link them as well, before faltering.

Clay felt his false breath catch in his throat. Hurriedly he jerked his hand back to run it through his hair, mouth dry.

One of the files was his and the other...

Was Desmond's.

Good feeling completely evaporated, he slumped to the ground, breathing shakily.

He-he'd known, in the back of his head, that Abstergo had files on him- had files on THEM.  
But seeing it....

He wrenched his gaze from the floor, dully eyeing the hackers code steadily creeping through the grey, devouring code and data. Towards him.

Toward the files.

He couldn't let anyone see his file.

He couldn't let anyone see DESMONDS file.

Standing up, moving frantically to tug the lines away from the hacker, panicking when he spotted blue corruption already flickering in the lines. He stumbled away, dragging the files away with him, lines stained partially blue, severing the hackers connection to them.

Clay prayed silently, desperately to whatever being, god or isu, who would listen that the damage was negligible. That he didn't accidentally break the creed.

He dragged the codes as far away from the hacker as he could, "breathing" heavily. Before flopping, face first, on the floor.

He hoped he hadn't endangered Des.

**Author's Note:**

> * Slams face through iPad* First chapter done! It looked a lot smaller in my notes than on here. There are 3 chapters mostly done in all, I'm hoping to post all 3 by Tuesday. I haven't worked out all the other chapters yet so I don't know how long this fanfic will be or if I'll finish, but if you like it,have advice,or just want to gush about fic ideas, comment!


End file.
